He had never worked in a big company, didn't even know how to make a PPT, yet in just seven months, he turned a remote region's performance into one that surpassed the core regions, becoming the monthly sales champion. How did this former self-employed dealer do it?

1 The company was newly established, venturing into a new business area, and needed to expand the national market. Through a referral, A, who had been a self-employed distributor, came to headquarters to interview for the position of provincial manager.

At first meeting, A gave the impression of being too ordinary: no business attire, no slick salesperson demeanor, and his speech was peppered with dialect. He started by admitting he had never worked in a big company and didn't know the procedures, but he hoped the company might consider letting him take charge of a provincial region.

In the company's organizational structure, the provincial manager was a mid-level position. The core provinces were already staffed, and each provincial manager was considered experienced in the industry. Seeing such a candidate, I glanced at my leader's expression—it wasn't good. Out of politeness, I chatted with A, but his words and actions showed little promise. He just said he was willing to work hard, had sold similar products locally, and wanted to gain experience on the company's platform.

2 The leader didn't give a direct answer. After all, the role required someone with decisiveness and team experience, and A clearly didn't measure up. In fact, he seemed to lack even basic professional manager qualities. However, the company was in a hiring phase for expansion. Considering A had been a distributor locally and might have some customer resources, and his province wasn't a core region, they decided to let him test the waters. They could adjust later once the team was built. Sales is a survival-of-the-fittest process, and having someone try first was no big deal.

The outcome: A was hired on a trial basis and sent back to build a team and develop the market.

3 Since I had met A during the interview, I was one of the few people he knew at the company. Over the next month, A called me many times with questions about company processes, how to write application emails, how to use Foxmail, etc. Out of courtesy and work habits, I often replied and sent him training materials. When I asked what he was doing back home, he always said he was out visiting customers. Yet, there was no breakthrough in his sales data.

A month later, at the monthly meeting, provincial managers returned to report. A, representing his province, presented a PPT that was frankly embarrassing for a manager's meeting, but he excitedly said he had learned a lot that month and gave an example of a basic skill he had just mastered. You can imagine the expressions of the other provincial managers. The leader asked A what he had done that month. A said he had hired a few salespeople and they were visiting customers every day, having already visited over a thousand. Everyone laughed. The leader didn't say much, just told A to listen carefully to other provinces' reports and not to just run around visiting customers but to think more.

I remember A diligently taking notes on the side.

In the second month, A signed up a customer and excitedly announced it in the company's WeChat group. No one said much, just politely gave a thumbs-up. Over the next period, A signed up a few more customers, but performance was mediocre, and everyone thought it was expected.

In the second month's report, A was noticeably more confident. Though his presentation still lacked professionalism, he had improved. The leader said, "Let's see."

4 In the third month, A held a customer meeting that shocked us.

Hundreds of customers attended, and the number of new customers from that single event was the highest for the month. That month, no other customer meeting had been so successful!

The company's communication group was abuzz—unbelievable! A didn't say much.

By the third month, his performance had improved significantly, but A still had many basic questions and kept calling to ask about fundamental things.

By the fourth month, A's province performance was among the top, and his success created a catfish effect within the team, making other provinces more proactive.

By the seventh month, A achieved the monthly performance first, surpassing the core provinces' numbers.

Many couldn't believe it, but A had indeed done it.

5 I decided to have an in-depth chat with him.

He said, "I just felt this thing could work. I was a distributor before and didn't have much standardized corporate training, but I was determined to do well. Remember that first month? I was embarrassed and felt like a fool here. So I took a few salespeople and went out every day to visit customers, do market research, and collect customer information. Not one of those thousand-plus customer records was fake; we visited every single one. In that month, I had my car serviced twice and barely went home. Every night, I made customer survey forms and analysis forms, screened customers, planned the next day's routes, and that's how I signed up customers."

He opened his computer and showed me the spreadsheets he had compiled. The tables were large, with many categories: customers' basic info, company info, family info, willingness to buy, how to approach them, etc. He analyzed everything. Over a thousand customers, tens of thousands of analyses.

That was enough.

This data, on any platform, is a huge asset.

A is still in our circle and is a good friend of mine.

6 A's miracle was actually a natural result.

In sales, there are many tricks, industry rules, and experts, but the truth remains: you can't escape the principle of doing one thing down to the ground. Unyielding determination, persistent perseverance, humble progress, sincerity toward customers, and that simple customer survey analysis form. These are basic qualities for salespeople, but if you do them to the extreme, that's enough.

When I first entered this circle, the first training session was on how to make a customer survey analysis form. The greatest truths are simple. Years later, no principle beats using this tool for dealing with people to its fullest. Look at sales models in retail, wholesale, traditional, and internet industries—how many people consistently file and maintain records of every customer they've dealt with? How many sincerely maintain those relationships?

A few nights ago, I called a friend who had just been put in charge of a province. I asked what he was doing. He said, "Talk later, I'm unloading goods for a customer!"

He's now in charge of a branch company, and I don't think it's inappropriate for him to do that; in fact, I admire it. Some say sales is all about making money. Whether it's show or genuine, first and foremost, you have to be a good person.

Once, I went shopping at a mall, and the saleswoman was very enthusiastic. She kept in touch afterward, asking about product usage, and I was happy to refer customers to her.

Before buying a house, the real estate agent's enthusiasm was tear-jerking, but after the deal, I never heard from him again. Of course, when I buy a second house, I won't go back to him.

After insuring my car, the insurance guy regularly checks in on my car usage and never misses holiday greetings. I've decided to renew with him next year.

...

7 Everywhere I go, besides friends, I have many customers.

In fact, customers are also my friends...

Source: Sales and Market